


Carnival Games

by duality_of_toad



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Cute Carnival Games, Date Night, Fluff and Humor, Gift Fic, M/M, Oblivious Link (Legend of Zelda), i didn't know that was a tag lol, might use that more often
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:14:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29890641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duality_of_toad/pseuds/duality_of_toad
Summary: Link's day off at a festival gets a surprised visitor
Relationships: Link/Revali (Legend of Zelda)
Kudos: 40





	Carnival Games

**Author's Note:**

> To my friend, Quote, who bought me a cute jacket <3
> 
> Thank you, Hades for beating as always <3

The sounds of autumn leaves breezing by filled Link’s ears as he exited the Royal Guard tent. Akkala’s beautiful scenery would never grow old; How the autumn leaves that grow year-round waved in the wind, how each golden orange leaf let go from its home to flutter away into the air joining its brothers in some child’s leaf pile. Link glanced around in awe as if he had not seen it just a few minutes ago. 

The festival of the Calamity’s End. Each year since the first festival ten thousand years ago, the land had celebrated the fall of the scourge of Hyrule with obnoxiously bright colors. Bright reds and golds decorated the plaza as merchants set up shops and games. The children of said merchants already scattered the grounds, running and laughing with pinwheels twirling in the wind. Link could not recall the past celebrations being this flamboyant, yet with the Calamity once again showing its wretched head, all Hyrualeans knew they should celebrate while it lasts. 

Though whether it was for their own sakes or to encourage him and his soon-to-be fellow champions, he could not say. 

“Hey, soldier,” A voice behind Link said and he turned, standing straight as his captain greeted him. The man waved him off, “Relax, Link. Even though we’re in uniform, we’re technically off for the day.” 

Link nodded, rolling his shoulders and loosening his stance. 

The captain chuckled, “Use this day to have fun, okay? You of all people deserve it.”

Right. Link knew he did deserve it. Months of traveling with the Princess across Hyrule, protecting her from various monsters and threats, this was his day to relax. Yet as soon as his captain turned his back to find his wife and kids, Link’s back straightened once again. Stress flowed through his body as he tried to imagine himself relaxing, giving himself the shakes. 

Link paced around the grounds. Carnies littered the tents, all offering some type of game or event in exchange for Rupees. Link patted his pants, feeling the pocket change he had saved for this very moment, but his legs would not stop moving away from the plaza until he was on top of a hill. The colors of the festival blended with the fall colors, and it was a beautiful sight. Even the tree Link had picked for shelter shined like dusk’s sunset, the leaves blending into the sunset that covered the land. He leaned against the tree, sliding down to his knees, careful not to scrape up his uniform. 

His mind was exhausted from racing every day since he was named Zelda’s appointed knight. To keep his ever perfect reputation, to follow her for miles upon miles, protecting her from anything that stood in the way of her training. He has endured her insults, tantrums, and the only reward he had received was a title for being the Champion of Hyrule. 

Link’s head hit the tree. This was his vacation. He should be using it to relax, not to overthink his role. Though he couldn’t stop his eyes closing, hearing the voices of Hyrule echoing their high expectations of him in his ears until one sounded far too close to be imagined. 

“Well, I wasn’t expecting to find you here.” 

Link lifted his head slowly to be greeted with navy feathers standing before him, wings crossed in front of his chest. Revali. Though the last person he expected to see, he couldn’t help but sigh in relief to see another soon-to-be Champion present at the festival. Of course, it had to be Revali, who rivaled Zelda in who hated Link most. He pulled his knees to his chest, avoiding eye contact that he knew would be full of irritation or disappointment. 

A scoff. “Quite the knight you are, hiding from the festival thrown to encourage us champions.” 

Link lifted his head again. He noted how Revali had referred to them as champions, though he lacked the blue Champions’ scarf Zelda had crafted for him, knowing how that may look since they have not been officially appointed yet. Link’s face scrunched, raising an eyebrow at the scarf and then Revali. 

“What?” He asked, his wings moving to his hips. 

Link stood up slowly, holding out his hands to sign, then pausing. His fingers fidgeted, wondering what he should say, how he should say it. He elected to just point to the ground. 

Revali raised an eyebrow, and Link flinched. He sighed. 

_ “Why are you here?”  _ Link signed. 

Another scoff. This could be its own carnival game, counting Revali’s scoffs. 

He turned away from him. “If you must know, I’m here on official business. A representative of the Rito is required to be present during royal festivals, don’t you know?” 

Link raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t buying it. And apparently, neither was Revali.

“....Fine. The truth is, the elder said I train too much, that I needed to “relax”. Honestly, what is so relaxing about loud carnival games?” Revali said. He leaned against the tree and Link saw how he glanced at him multiple times before speaking up. “Why are you here?” 

_ “Same reason.” _

“Ah. Well. That doesn’t explain why you’re  _ here _ .” Link furrowed his eyebrows and Revali rolled his eyes, “By the tree, idiot.” 

Oh. To be honest, he didn’t know himself. It wasn’t helping him much either. His mind continued to run rampant with anxiety and worries as he watched the people he swore to protect enjoy their vacations and day-offs. This was supposed to be his day off too, wasn’t it? Then why didn’t it feel like it?

Revali sighed. He held out his wing to Link. 

“Come on. If we’re both forced to be here, might as well enjoy it.” 

Link held out his hand to take his wing but he hesitated. His hand trembled as his fingers grazed against Revali’s feathers. Why was he being so nice? This Rito...he tended to tease him endlessly, why would he want to spend the festival with him? It seemed Revali sensed his hesitation, for he leaned down and grabbed Link, pulling him to his feet. He wobbled as he stood, not noticing how his legs had fallen asleep underneath him. Revali balanced him, a small mocking smirk clear on his beak, and Link’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment. 

As he made no effort to move, Revali groaned. He began walking down the hill, Link’s blush grew more intense as he glanced over his shoulder, meeting soft emerald eyes that glowed in the sunset.

“Look, you can stay here and be pathetic all you want. It’s not my problem. I assumed you would like to be seen with another Champion, to help ease the attention since they’ll be looking at  _ me _ , after all.” 

Link’s face shifted to bewilderment. He knew this was Revali’s odd invitation, but he never would have expected this from another Champion. Well, Daruk, yeah. But not Revali. They were acquaintances, coworkers if anything. Although, he couldn’t help but feel a fondness for Revali, knowing he was trying his best. He smiled, lowering his hat to his chest and nodding. 

Satisfied, Revali led them down the hill back to the festival. 

  
  


By the time the duo joined the crowd, the grounds were packed with races from all around Hyrule. A Gerudo woman tried to flag them down to sell jewelry. A Goron brought his own cooking pot, showing Zora kids how to cook rock roasts, at which Revali cringed and mumbled about the awful taste and texture. 

As they walked, a Rito waved down Revali, gesturing to some type of game they had set up. That got his attention, and he was soon dragging Link over to the stand. 

“Hey, Rev, long time no see. Wanna give this a try?” The Rito gestured to the small toy bow on the counter. The arrows next to it were cheaply made, each threatened to leave millions of splinters in the user’s fingers. Link picked one up, turning it in his hand as Revali handed over a rupee to the Rito. 

“Watch and learn, knight, I’ll show you how a true archer hits a bullseye.” Revali adjusted the bow and arrow, wincing as a loose splinter stabbed his wing. He gave Link another smirk as he shot and--

He missed. It lodged itself in the far border, barely hanging on to the cloth target. 

“Wha--?” He picked up another arrow, firing it as fast as the first. It overshot, narrowly missing the Rito carny as he ducked out of the way. Revali tried once more, but before he could even fire the arrow, it snapped in his grip. 

“This is rigged,” he mumbled, leaning over to Link and showed him the broken arrow. “This arrow was clearly made to ruin any chance of winning. I’ve never seen a Rito have such terrible craftsmanship.” 

_ Let me try, _ Link signed, handing over a rupee to the Rito. He smirked as he took it, handing Link more arrows to try. Revali was right, this was less of an arrow and more of a branch with a sharp end. It curved and scraped him, ripping a tiny hole in his gloves. He frowned, making a mental note to talk to a seamstress later as he prepared the bow, struggling against the awkward curve of the arrow. 

The arrow still missed, but Link came closer to the bullseye than Revali. He watched over his shoulder, and Link could feel a glare in the back of his head as he tried again. Closer yet. The final one missed completely, flying through the back of the tent and leaving a hole. 

The Rito thanked them as Link ushered them away. Revali was three seconds away from notching an arrow in his own bow, threatening and cursing the Rito until he was handed some type of prize for his efforts and for being scammed. 

As Link dragged him away by his wing, Revali continued to spit curses towards the carny. 

“That guy...I haven’t seen him in the village in years, and I can see what he’s been up to now.” Revali complained. Link couldn’t help but laugh at his frustration, and he was met with a small gale sending him flying forward. He tumbled, his ankles rolling a bit as he grabbed at Revali, his hand grabbing his scarf as he fell to the ground. 

Revali laughed as Link glared at him, throwing the scarf at his face and he let it fall on his beak. He took it off, quickly wrapping it around his neck, and helping Link up. Link smacked his wing away. 

“Don’t be like that. You’re having more fun with this ridiculousness than up by the tree by yourself.” 

He wasn’t wrong. 

Still. Link eyed Revali, watching as his smirk faded to an unreadable expression. Sour, perhaps? It definitely wasn’t a look of concern. 

Revali narrowed his eyes. “What do you want?” 

Ah. There was the irritable tone he was used to. Except Link had no way to put his questions into words. His mouth sat agape, avoiding all chances of eye contact once again before letting his head dart around, trying to find any booth he could to avoid the question.  _ Aha! _

Link tugged on Revali’s wing, dragging him over to a large setup. A rickety ladder stretched far above several pillows and bags to break the fall of anyone who attempted this and failed. At the top, dozens of huge stuffed toys hung as a free game for any winner who managed to climb. Revali scoffed, a frown growing by the second as he realized how to play this game. 

“You can’t possibly expect me to climb this? I don’t have the hands,” he stated, waving his wings to emphasize his point, “Just another tampered with game to scam Hyruleans. What do you plan on doing?” 

Link rolled his eyes. He knew the trick to his particular game. It reminded him of his days in training, how he and his fellow knights would be forced to climb obstacle courses in the rain to build up strength to handle any battle that was thrown at them. This? This was nothing. 

He handed over a red rupee, positioning himself at the starting line. He saw how the carny's smirk grew as he shouted “go!”

The ladder fought against his body weight as he climbed, each movement sending a violent tremor that threatened to throw him off. He gripped hard, carrying himself up, using the trick that helped him place first in training. Grip onto the rope, not the rinds. Trial and error had taught him the rinds were there to trick the common man. Slow and steady, opposite limbs carrying him up until he stood on the small stage with the toys. He waved at Revali, who crossed his wings, a smug smile clear on his beak. 

The carny dragged his feet over to Link, “Alright, you got me. Pick anything you want.” 

Link grinned. He examined each toy in front of him. All of them were the size of his torso, well crafted with soft sheet-like fabric and buttons for eyes. The stitches for each looked as if they were purposely ruined to help add cuteness. Which they did succeed, somehow making the common monsters that harassed Hyrule look like they would cuddle you to death. Link’s smile grew as he picked up the blue bokoblin plush, hugging it tight to his chest as he climbed down. 

“Are you satisfied?” Revali asked. The smirk hadn’t left his face and it was contagious, Link almost jumping in joy as he handed the plush over to him. Revali sputtered as he held the toy, raising an eyebrow.

_ For you _ , Link signed. He loved the toy, it was adorable, but he doubted a member of the Royal Guard should be seen with a stuffed bokoblin in his bedroom. He watched as Revali rolled his eyes, tucking the plush under his wing. 

“Fine. Only because it’ll make a good memory of you climbing like an idiot.” 

_ A good memory, huh?  _ Link signed, smirking and ducking in time as Revali swung the plush towards his head. 

The two walked to several more booths, Link electing to grab food. He hummed in delight as she shoveled all types of cuisine from around Hyrule in his mouth, smiling and nodding along to the cheery music the bards played. Revali sat next to him, flinching at every new bite Link took, especially when his teeth crunched as he bit into a hard piece of rock roast. 

“You are such a glutton. I’m surprised your digestive system hasn’t simply shut down from the amount of food you’ve eaten just now. How barbaric,” Revali said, the last part mumbled under his breath. But as Link glanced at him in the side of his eye, he saw that same smirk from earlier, the one that followed him all day since they first spoke by the tree. Revali’s emerald eyes held that same light from earlier in them, the orange sunset that slowly turned into stars mirrored in those eyes that were different than usual. They were soft, content, and so uncharacteristic of the usual hardened Rito warrior Revali was. Link raised an eyebrow as they caught eye contact and Revali looked away quickly, now occupied by the dancing bards. 

Link resisted questioning Revali. He knew he would merely get an annoyed remark, explaining how much of a noisy nuisance he was. Yet such a relaxed look from his fellow champion burned its way through his skull. What if--

“How’s everyone doing tonight?” A bard announced, lowering his instrument as waited for his applause to cease. Link’s head turned to see the Genius Eccentric himself, Robbie, making his way to the center of the grounds, carrying a large bomb in his hand. Link cringed, eyeing him carefully as he gained everyone’s attention, a wide smile on his face. 

“I have invented something completely new for this event!” Robbie exclaiming, holding the bomb wide in the air and swinging it. “I will need, uh-- everyone will need to back far away from the festival grounds to achieve this! Wouldn’t want anyone killed, right?” 

A scared chuckle echoed through the audience and Link cringed. What could possibly need everyone to evacuate? Nevertheless, he stood, Revali quickly following him and the line piling towards a nearby cliff until he stopped. He wrapped his wing around Link’s forearm, pulling him out of the crowd. 

“I feel that a large crowd such as this would ruin this,” Revali said, side-eyeing a crying baby and its mother, singing and shushing it, “If you need me, I will be returning to the tree.” 

As “subtle” as that was, Link nodded, following him back in the direction where they had met. 

Link’s nerves were on fire as he watched Robbie set his “event” up. Bomb arrows were lined up like cannons facing the sky, and Link had to resist jumping to his feet and stopping this before anyone got hurt. Of course, he knew he also didn’t have it in him. His body relaxed against the tree as his mind raced about what this could lead to. The only hint towards his unsettled consciousness was his foot shaking, the buckles jingling against his ankles. From his right, he heard Revali scoff. 

“Would you steady yourself? Your anxiety is making my feathers ruffle,” Revali said, flicking LInk with the tip of his wing as he settled against the tree as well. His foot came to a halt and he took a deep breath. If his captain saw him like this, he would send him on another vacation. He glanced at Revali and received his third eye roll of the night. “I thought you were supposedly skilled at everything. Is relaxing not one of those talents?”

_ Guess not,  _ Link signed, shrugging. 

“I suppose we have something in common.” 

Revali played with his scarf, his eyes catching Link’s again. Link wished for once he could read minds, to reach past Revali’s demeanor and see his inner thoughts. Oh, to reach deep into that brain of his would be fascinating. He frowned at Link, and he rubbed his beak. The silence must be killing him. That, or he needed to hear his own voice every few minutes. 

“I guess I must admit today was a nice change of pace. I hadn’t realized how worn I was until I tried the bow game. I’m sure I managed to overwork the muscles.” 

Link’s eyes fell to his hands. He clenched and unclenched his hands, feeling the strain against each tendon as he tried to relax. He winced. Maybe gripping a weapon with his entire strength all hours of the day wasn’t healthy either. Revali watched him, a small chuckle escaping his beak. 

“I assume you do too? Hylians, so simple yet, still so fragile compared to us.” Revali said, though he sounded as if he was merely joking, “Maybe you needed this more than I.” 

Link nodded slowly then jumped. An explosion set off in the air, odd red and orange sparkles materializing and fading as they fell back to the ground. He almost jumped to his feet when he saw Robbie was the one setting them off, running away from each as they shot into the air. All types of colors were present, taking all different shapes and sizes. The triforce exploded into the air, its bright yellow and golden blinding Link’s eyes for a moment. 

“Well, would you look at that,” Revali scoffed. 

They watched in silence until what Link assumed was the finale. Millions of sparks flew into the air, all the bomb arrows below shooting into the sky. Then it was silent, except for clapping and screaming as Robbie ran with his hair on fire. Link stood to leave but stopped when he heard grumbling behind him. He turned to Revali, who was avoiding eye contact, a grimace growing on his beak. Link raised an eyebrow, waving in Revali’s face until he noticed. He stood, shaking his head and walking ahead before stopping. 

“You may be the Champion of Hyrule, but you’re just a simple Hylian. Far inferior to us Ritos...yet, I wouldn’t mind training with you sometime. Perhaps we may find who is truly stronger, and not from measly carnival games and a makeshift vacation” 

Link watched him watch past him, noting his signature smirk, and he couldn’t stop the small smile on his lips as he eagerly imagined a day such as that. 


End file.
